January 21, 2021: The Hand of God

“But His hand is stretched out still” (Isa. 9:12, NKJV).

This verse in the Bible caught my attention. I wondered if I was reading it correctly. I looked at it in several versions, each showing a different picture than the New King James Version. I decided to see what Ellen White wrote about it:

“In different ways God works to attain one purpose—the saving of souls. By different methods the gracious Redeemer deals with different minds. The change of heart is as truly wrought out by one process as by another. ... Yet who dare say that God does not still love and regard as His child the one so sorely beset, and that His hand is not still stretched out to save? The heavenly Shepherd knows where to find the lambs that are straying from the fold. He will gather them in. ... In such places as these there are those who will bloom more sweetly for the Lord than many who live in more favored places. All around them they will shed the fragrance of His grace as they bloom in most unpromising places” (This Day With God, p. 67).

This describes the picture I envisioned hearing these words over and over. What an amazing God we have! He sees those whom we may have given up on and think are hopeless, and, in His discipline, He stretches out His hand to them.

Do you see His hand in your life? Do you feel Him picking you up? You can bloom and be a fragrance of His grace! Will you grasp His life-giving hand? He will hold onto you and keep you.

God, take me into Your loving hands always. Amen.

Peggy Curtis Harris is a member of the Beltsville church in Maryland.